BERLIN (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel canceled a planned appearance alongside his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Thursday because of health reasons, the German foreign ministry said in a statement.

Gabriel had been due to attend a public ceremony celebrating German-Russian youth exchanges alongside Lavrov, with whom he would later have given a news conference. The ministry said State Secretary Markus Ederer would replace Gabriel at the first event, while the news conference would be canceled.